Chapter 62

Chapter 62.

Immediately after Happy scurried out of the room.

I let out the laugh I had been holding back.

“She has a cute side.”

[…She was terrified the entire time before she left, though?]

Snowy cut in, its hologram flickering as though it found this absurd.

“Yes. That is why.”

Happy resembled a meerkat.

The kind of meerkat that held its head up stiffly while staying on full alert.

To think you do not understand this feeling.

Snowy, you still have a long way to go before you can understand the human heart.

“Changing jobs is an important matter.”

If I thought of it that way, I could understand why she had been so nervous.

‘Naturally, it is only human to try negotiating which conditions are better.’

However, in my opinion, the Black Market was not a good workplace.

The Golden Foundation I would create in the future was a far better workplace.

Of course, I had no basis for thinking that.

‘I just have to make it a far better workplace than the Black Market.’

“So the two of you should work hard.”

[…]

See to it that you create a good workplace, Kang Hyo-jun.

***

The Saintess arrived much earlier than the promised time.

Her face was red as she looked at me and stomped over, and she carried such pressure that I unconsciously tensed, wondering if she was about to hit me.

“Apologize to me.”

“?”

Had I done something wrong?

[…You said there were two ways to make someone angry.]

Ah, right. I had.

“How did you feel back then? Were you angry? How angry were you?”

“…”

The Saintess’s face grew even redder.

“Judging by your face, it seems the effect was excellent. Community sayings are never wrong, are they? Thank you for your cooperation.”

“…Y-you, you…!”

The Saintess looked up at me with resentful eyes. Just as she was about to stride forward, looking ready to rush at me and punch me at any moment.

Her shoulders flinched and stiffened as though she had struck an invisible wall.

Her face looked strangely frightened, or perhaps as though she instinctively recoiled from something.

In the end, unable to bring herself to close the distance, she only stomped her feet in place with THUD, THUD, venting her anger.

‘What is wrong with her?’

“Hurry up and tell me you are sorry!”

Oh dear, had I teased her too much?

“I am sorry to me.”

“Eek, eeeeeek!!!”

The Saintess, bursting with frustration, swung her fists through the air and stomped the innocent floor hard enough to break it.

She could not bring herself to charge at me directly, and was merely fuming on her own, unable to contain her anger.

‘This is fun.’

I felt like an uncle teasing his young niece.

The Saintess’s face was gradually turning so red that it seemed she might collapse if I teased her any further.

“Let us leave the jokes at that…”

“Jokes? Jooookes?”

“Take a look at this.”

I pointed to the elixir I had placed on the table.

The moment the Saintess’s gaze naturally followed my finger and landed on the elixir.

“Eek.”

She collapsed to the floor.

Her face, which had been bright red, turned deathly pale in an instant.

“W-what is this?”

‘So she can sense it after all.’

I had taken it out briefly in front of Happy as well, wondering whether even an ordinary person without Divine Power could recognize it, but Happy had not realized what it was.

However, the Saintess, who possessed Divine Power, recognized it at a glance.

‘It was worth provoking her to check whether she could properly sense it.’

When a big shot on the Saintess’s level maintained a poker face, it was difficult to read what was going on inside.

So I had deliberately angered her and taken out the elixir in the gap after breaking down her emotional defenses.

Judging by how she had forgotten even her rage and was staring in shock… I had made it properly.

“It is a nutritional supplement.”

“…A n-nutritional supplement?”

A Holy Water-only additive.

A relative of the Red Elixir.

A White Elixir.

In other words, allow me to introduce the Nutritional Supplement.

***

Holy Water was created by infusing water with Divine Power.

At that time, the higher the grade of the Divine Power, the more effective the Holy Water became.

That was why beginners who were clumsy at handling Holy Water only paid attention to the quality and quantity of this “Divine Power.”

Should I infuse this much Divine Power? That much? Should I make it weak? Should I make it strong? Things like that.

However, craftsmen approached it a little differently.

Holy Water was a consumable that combined sanctity with water.

In other words, the thing just as important as Divine Power was “water.”

Anyone could think that far, but once one started focusing on water, one quickly realized something.

Divine Power would not settle in anything unless it was plain water.

If Divine Power was infused into a potion, two results would occur depending on the quality of the Divine Power.

Either the potion’s effect would vanish and it would become Holy Water.

Or the infused Divine Power would disappear, and it would remain an ordinary potion.

I could say with certainty that every Holy Water maker on Earth had stopped at this point.

—Potions and Divine Power cannot be fused!

They probably reached that conclusion and ended it there.

But what about a seasoned veteran like me?

I went one step further.

—I will find a way. As I always have!

I did not stop at, So it cannot be done.

I began with, How can I make it work? and went through countless trials and errors.

The process of accumulating countless failures.

That was enjoyable.

That was what made me a veteran.

And eventually, a result emerged.

This “White Elixir” was one of those results.

It was not completed Holy Water, but a miraculous catalyst that absorbed any Divine Power like a sponge and explosively amplified it.

An elixir that harmonized with Divine Power, one that had been discovered only once even in Lost Honor!

If it had one serious flaw, it was that obtaining the materials was troublesome. But at least for me, that was not a flaw.

I had already prepared a way to obtain those materials, but no one on Earth could obtain them.

In other words, the only person who could supply this White Elixir, now and forever, was me.

‘That means I do not even need to go out of my way to kick away the ladder from the later entrants.’

It was at the level where it should be called an advantage, not a flaw.

In any case.

The Saintess’s eyes, which had been raised as if she might bite me at any moment, went blank, and her tightly clenched lips opened halfway like an idiot’s.

Before that overwhelming aura, her shallow anger had been erased cleanly.

She was completely entranced.

‘Oh, she is drooling.’

***

‘What is this?’

People said that when a person faced an incident beyond common sense, their mind went blank.

Yeriche was feeling something beyond even that.

It felt as though a bomb had gone off inside her head.

As the Saintess who handled Divine Power, her instincts felt as though they were being forced to kneel before the sublime power inside that glass bottle.

‘Ah…’

Yeriche stared greedily at the elixir with an entranced, dazed expression.

‘Gasp.’

As though waking from sleep, Yeriche wiped her drool and came to her senses.

‘Is this… Holy Water?’

What shocked Yeriche was the fact that she could sense an “alien Divine Power” she had never felt before from within that bottle.

Rather than Divine Power… it felt like a seed before it became power.

A concentration of divine energy that had not yet become Divine Power?

It was not the Divine Power she commonly knew, but…

She could feel a far purer power.

‘Pure Divine Power?’

Special One had clearly said there was a method to refine Holy Water beyond even the Red Elixir.

Was that the identity of this glass bottle?

“Do you want it?”

“Yes.”

Yeriche answered reflexively.

“I will tell you in advance. This is not an ordinary elixir.”

Special One’s fingers lightly picked up the glass bottle.

As though telling her to look here, he swayed the bottle.

Yeriche could not take her eyes off it.

Her pupils swayed left and right in time with the glass bottle.

“There are two ways to refine Holy Water. One is to mix it with this kind of… ‘Nutritional Supplement.’”

At last, the glass bottle slipped into Special One’s pocket.

‘Ah…’

Yeriche felt an intense sense of regret.

Perhaps noticing that, Special One gave a faint laugh and continued speaking.

“The ‘refining method’ I mentioned by text is the second one.”

“Then…”

“Saintess. You have two choices. Sit down first.”

Special One gestured to the seat opposite him.

Only then did Yeriche realize that she was still sitting on the floor, and she sprang to her feet.

‘T-to show such disgrace…!’

Yeriche hurriedly sat on the sofa and cleared her throat, composing herself.

‘I was played far too thoroughly!’

Her plan to seize the psychological high ground by nitpicking his rudeness had failed from the very start.

Instead, she had been drawn into his provocation and struck by a massive counterpunch, exposing everything.

“W-what are they?”

“A deal. First. You obtain the refining method.”

“…And the second?”

“I will sell you the Nutritional Supplement you just saw.”

Yeriche’s eyes sparkled.

The moment she saw the elixir Special One had called a “Nutritional Supplement.”

The ordinary choice no longer entered her eyes.

In other words, the answer had been decided from the start.

“The second one!”

***

‘She took the bait.’

The moment the Saintess recognized the value of this elixir, the negotiation was as good as over.

From now on, I was the master of this table.

‘Let us see.’

I half-pulled the Nutritional Supplement out of my pocket.

The Saintess’s eyes, which had been anxiously scanning the area around my face, fixed right onto the Nutritional Supplement.

And they showed no sign of leaving it.

‘Here we go.’

I took the Nutritional Supplement completely out and waved it this way and that in the air.

Like a cat watching a toy.

The Saintess’s head moved along the trajectory I drew.

When I brought it close, as though I were about to place it on the table.

Flinch.

I could see the Saintess’s hand twitching as though she wanted to snatch the Nutritional Supplement at any moment.

‘This is fun.’

I can control the Saintess!

“…What are you doing right now?”

“Thank you for your cooperation.”

“…”

The Saintess’s brow furrowed.

I obediently put the Nutritional Supplement back into my pocket.

“When this is mixed with Divine Power, something astonishing happens.”

“Could you explain specifically?”

“I remember the Red Elixir causing an uproar because it had two S-rank effects attached to it.”

“…It did. An absurd product appeared in a market where there had not even been a potion with a single S attached.”

“An effect on that level will be attached.”

“An effect will be attached…?”

Yeriche tilted her head silently.

“Does that mean Holy Water can receive an ‘Artifact: Consumable’ classification?”

‘She understands quickly.’

The limit of the Holy Water Yeriche sold was clear.

Holy Water made by humans, nothing more than “water containing Divine Power,” could not receive an “Artifact” classification.

That was why its effect was limited.

Its efficacy was worse even than a mere D-rank Wound Healing effect attached to a consumable classified as an Artifact.

‘Of course, the overwhelming advantage of being able to supply it without entering the Tower must have swallowed up such flaws entirely.’

However, the situation changed if this Nutritional Supplement was available.

If Divine Power was poured into the Nutritional Supplement, it would be reborn as an “Artifact: Consumable” equal to or greater than the Red Elixir.

“That is correct.”

“…Indeed, it seems possible. If it possesses the power that Nutritional Supplement has.”

A consumable Artifact that humans could supply.

The realm every company and potion maker dreamed of.

That was now right in front of Yeriche’s eyes.

‘So of course Yeriche’s eyes are going to roll.’

“But… if the supply of Nutritional Supplements is low…”

“You do not need to worry about that.”

This time, I set a bag down with a thump.

Then I opened the zipper, took out a set box packed tightly with twelve bottles of Nutritional Supplement, and placed it on the table with a solid thud.

“I can prepare as much as you want.”

“…Excellent.”

Yeriche’s eyes seemed to turn into the shape of money.

Yeriche was a woman obsessed with both Gold and Points.

The calculator in her head was probably spinning busily.

“What are the conditions?”

I took a sheet of paper from my inner pocket and placed it on the table.

“This is…?”

It was a One-Time Saintess Call-In Voucher.

“As far as I know, this is a right that allows one to call the Saintess and receive her help for anything, once. Is that correct?”

“It is, yes?”

“Please issue this for me.”

“…How many?”

“Haha.”

How many?

What an innocent thing to say, dear customer.

“As many as I want, whenever I want.”

“…Pardon?”

Yeriche’s eyes widened as though she had misheard.

“To start, could you give me about one hundred?”

“…”

Yeriche showed signs of hesitation.

“I promise you. I will only use them for matters that benefit Earth.”

I held out the paper and pen I had prepared.

Soon, Yeriche accepted the pen, picked up the One-Time Saintess Call-In Voucher, and forced two crooked, sloppy circles after the number 1.

[Saintess 1○○-Time Call-In Voucher]

“T-there. Happy now?”

‘Good. Very good.’

I lightly tossed one bottle of Nutritional Supplement over the Saintess’s head.

The Nutritional Supplement slowly flew through the air in an arc.

“Ah!”

Yeriche sprang up like a cat catching a ball, and with agile movements that would put a baseball player to shame, she snatched the Nutritional Supplement.

THUD!! CRASH!

The Nutritional Supplement landed perfectly and safely in her arms, but Yeriche’s body rolled across the bare floor, which had not a single cushion on it.

“…”

“…I apologize.”

Seeing Yeriche twitching in pain and humiliation, I politely apologized.

I did not think you would be that startled….

***

“I will use a Call-In Voucher immediately.”

Yeriche blinked while stroking the bottle of Nutritional Supplement in her arms.

“…Immediately?”

“Yes. Right now.”

It seemed she wanted to return to her room at any moment and try making Holy Water with the Nutritional Supplement, but no.

I gestured with my chin toward the soft sofa in the reception room.

“Saintess. What do you think of this room?”

“Pardon? Well… perhaps because it is a Market reception room, it is luxurious. The sofa is soft, too. It is not to my taste, though.”

In other words, she liked it.

“I am glad. From now on, this room will be your new workplace and lodging.”

“…Pardon?”

Yeriche’s eyes went round.

“W-what kind of frightening joke is that? I have to return to Italy. I cannot leave the Order empty….”

“Ah-ah. Call-In Voucher.”

“…”

The Saintess began to panic.

“T-then I will return tomorrow. A Call-In Voucher lasts one day at most, and even then, it is only for one matter.”

“I will use tomorrow’s Call-In Voucher in advance as well.”

“…That…”

“I will use the vouchers for the day after tomorrow, one week, and one month in advance too.”

“…Are you insane?”

The Saintess finally threw away her dignity and let out a curse.

Her face went pale as she shouted.

“Just set a deadline! Tell me how long you want me to stay!”

“Ah. That is a good method too, but… I cannot do that.”

“Why?”

“I do not know yet how long I will need the Saintess.”

“…?”

My condolences, Saintess.

“So until you are needed no longer, you will have to wait here, where you can be deployed immediately.”

“…Then I can go back after o-one hundred days, right?”

“No. Ah, now that you mention it, could you make me a One-Thousand-Time Call-In Voucher too?”

You will “never” escape.

“T-this is kidnapping and confinement!”

“If you return on your own, I will take it to mean you have no intention of purchasing Nutritional Supplements.”

“…”

The Saintess was already a fish that had taken the bait.

A perfect snare made by her own greed.

Yeriche looked back and forth between the Nutritional Supplement in her arms and the closed door, letting out a despairing groan.

The recruitment of the strongest Holy Water factory manager and healer on Earth had succeeded!